Public health officials in the Edmonton area are visiting nursing homes and other institutions to make sure recalled meat has been removed from their shelves. (CBC)

Public Health officials in the Edmonton region have been visiting hospitals and nursing homes this week to check for stocks of recalled deli-style meats which have been linked to an outbreak of listeria.

The infection has killed three people in Ontario, and caused more than a dozen others to get sick.

A total of 17 cases of listeriosis have been confirmed as outbreak-related nationwide, and up to 17, including four deaths, were under investigation to determine whether they, too, were spawned by the outbreak.

There have been no reported cases of listeria related illnesses in Alberta linked to the latest outbreak.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has identified listeria bacteria at a Maple Leaf Foods meat plant in Toronto. No link has been made to the Maple Leaf discovery and the outbreak.

On Wednesday the company temporarily shut its Toronto plant and recalled some 23 products, including a varieties of turkey, smoked meat and roast beef products.

Officials want to make sure the meats have been removed from places that serve people who may be vulnerable to infection: the very young, the elderly and those with compromised immune systems.

"In the Capital Health region, we've got about 100 sites, primarily institutions. These are places where vulnerable people reside. So we're just being sure that everbody's got it off the shelves now," said Dr. Gerry Predy, medical officer of health for Capital Health.

Fast food chains quick to react

Fast food restaurants say they pulled the affected products off their shelves quickly once they got word.

'We can't be waiting around for it to hit us and then get treatment after. Some of us could end up being ex-Bavarian Smokie eaters, if you know what I mean.'—Guy L'Hereux, who ate some of the recalled sausages

"Head office phoned us at 10 a.m. [Wednesday] morning to let us know to take the roast beef and corned beef from our shelves," said Jason Harvey, manager of a Mr. Sub shop in central Edmonton Thursday.

"We have no idea when we're going to get the product back. Hopefully soon because we do sell a lot of these subs."

But some consumers are worried about what has happened.

"I'm very apprehensive about what's going on here," said Guy L'Heurex, who told CBC News he ate a couple of packages of Schneider's Bavarian Smokies that are part of the recall.

"I'm diabetic and I have other complications. We can't be waiting around for it to hit us and then get treatment after. Some of us could end up being ex-Bavarian Smokie eaters, if you know what I mean."